Permafrost

Chapter 3

One thing that was great for Diamond about working at Slope Shredders, was that it never felt like the day dragged on. He always had something to do no matter what part of his shift he was on. The best part though, was the customers. The athlete could chat with other ponies about his favorite hobby, whiling away as much time as a customer wanted, talking about something he loved, and he was getting paid for it.

Yet today Time decided to plant its hooves and move no faster than a snail creeping across sandpaper. Something about actually having a big event to wait for took a nice hearty screwdriver to the gearworks of whatever great celestial clock made the hours pass. It was official, For the first time since he’d started this job, Double Diamond was bored to tears.

It wasn’t for lack of trying either; he’d kill to be as invested in his work as he was any other day, but he just couldn’t forget about the time. He was still able to lose himself in the conversations with his customers but the moment they left, Diamond found himself checking the clock. Things like stocking, which usually only felt like a harmless time sink, felt like his whole muzzle was against a grindstone. It wasn’t making time go any slower, but it certainly wasn’t making it go any quicker.

He was stuck at a point of what could happen. Nothing was definite yet, and the amount of time it took to get there only advanced at a rate of one second per second. He’d barely even gotten off of his lunch break (in which he failed to convince the butterflies in his stomach to accept food amongst their ranks), and the three and a half hours standing between him and freedom felt more like a life sentence.

He couldn’t even find a way to justify asking Frostfire for an early out. He knew his boss was entirely fine with letting him off early if he asked while it was slow. But it wouldn’t help. Because on the clock or not, that gulf of time was still going to be there. And the more he thought about it, the longer it seemed. Yet, work didn’t help to take his mind off of anything.

But just as he accepted his four hour sentence to a purgatory of speculation, awaiting the moment he both feared and anticipated would define his life, the door opened. Before he could turn his head out of the stock room to see who it was, Frost of all ponies came darting out of his back office, ensuring Diamond he had this one. Something was up when captain laziness himself wanted to take a customer.

He wanted to go take a look, but he didn’t want to even risk getting into a spat with his boss. That didn’t mean he wasn’t curious though. The only voice he could hear was Frostfire’s, and it sounded like whoever he was talking to was familiar with him, at least to the point where only minor epithets like “dude” came up. Diamond kept checking through the stock, if for no other reason that a sudden cessation of the noise he was supposed to be making could tip them both off.

After a few minutes of idly pushing boxes around the storeroom he gave up hope of seeing who Frost’s guest was. Then, the stallion heard about the last thing he was expecting.

“Hey, Diamond, come here, your friend wants to see you!” Frost’s eager summons left the athlete dumbstruck. He really didn’t know if any of the store’s patrons could really be defined as his friends, much less that any would do so willingly. He also didn’t think he had any real friends in San Franciscolt outside of Frostfire, save for someone who’d really have no reason to be in a snowboard shop. Or that he was liable to see until after his shift was over.

And yet again, in total defiance of all logic, there stood Party Favor. He was still eagerly chatting up Frostfire, as if the two had known each other for years. The stallion wanted to ask what was going on before he was interrupted.

“Diamond, seriously, you should’ve told me that you knew Party waaaay before now man! I should send you to buy my lottery tickets dude, anypony lucky enough to score a date with this motherbucker has got to have at least a jackpot and a half still in them, mare or stallion. Seriously, you should’ve told me, I would’ve given you the day off with pay!”

Diamond’s mind quickly unpacked what he’d heard, making all the connections it possibly could so he wouldn’t sound like a rambling lunatic when he spoke. Recapping to himself:
1: Party and Frost really were friends. It was mentioned the day before, but never really registered.
2: Frost was okay with colt cuddlers, seeing as he didn’t just get fired on the spot.
3: No, Frost WAS a colt cuddler. That story about the stallion in the picture on his desk being “an old guard buddy” was a total lie. Maybe the fact that they looked like they were going to jump into bed the second the camera was put down should’ve tipped him off.
4: Or maybe the copy of Playmare he spotted sticking out of his desk drawer should’ve done the same, Snowboarding-themed or not
5: Perception was not his strong suit.

“Well I would’ve told you, but I scheduled it for after work today. I figured it wouldn’t matter if you let me off early.” A thin veneer of false confidence was about all Double Diamond could muster at the moment. His fears about whether or not Party would be there had been obliterated, only to have their ranks replaced with burgeoning paranoia over how things would go.

“Well then D, I didn’t know you were going to get all responsible on me.” Party took his turn in the conversation with a hint of sarcasm, a smile curling up on the edges of his ‘hurt’ expression. He circled around the counter towards Diamond, his tail swishing back and forth with a playful air to it.

“E-even still, how did you expect me to find you if I did know you were coming? We were supposed to meet at the bookstore half past four, you didn’t say where you’d even be before that.” Diamond didn’t realize he’d made a slip in his verbiage until the brief moment in which the hurt on Party’s face looked genuine. He wanted to apologize, recuse himself, but only a second later, Party was back at it.

“Aww, don’t you know D? I’m wherever the party is! All you have to listen for is loud music and you can just ask for me” It was like someone went back and recorded over the moment earlier with a more intentional response. Party was already chuckling, draping his front hooves over both athletes’ shoulders. “Speaking of which, we’re going to be making up some lost time for you today. There’s a gig going on later tonight and we’re going, come Tartarus or high water”

“Wait, what party? I didn’t see any fliers up for something going on tonight. I thought we were just going to hang around San Franciscolt?” Diamond felt rather bewildered by the whole affair. He’d figured Party might want to take him to a big event at some point, but he’d also thought they’d basically laid out plans the day before. He wasn’t trying to get out of it either, the stallion figured if there was something, the city would’ve been covered in flyers weeks ago.

“Thank your boss for the Invite. The froststone’s going to be set up at the big slalom tomorrow, but first, they’re stress testing the power by blowing the roof off the place! The unicorn hoof-pumped, using the scarf clad earth pony as a brace. By the time his front hooves reached the ground again, he was almost to the point of prancing in anticipation. “They’re testing out how well the place dampens sound too, so they brought in a whole stable of DJs! Scratch, Pegboard, Neon, and Sunny have as much time as they want, and there’s enough drinks being brought in to fill a swimming pool!”

“Wait, just how many ponies are going to this? I-I thought someone like Vinyl Scratch wouldn’t get out of bed if there were less than a thousand ponies cheering for her” Diamond moved straight from confused to mortified. He couldn’t force himself into a smaller affair alone, but that wasn’t the worst of the matter, since apparently Party had used the D word. “And… aren’t… other ponies going to be able to tell that we’re there ...together?”

Frostfire and Party Favor shared a look the athlete couldn’t quite interpret. They were smiling. They had to know something.

“Don’t worry about that Dubbs. This is a real know-somepony-who-knows-somepony event, the only reason we managed to even talk stadium DJs into playing a construction site is the kind of aether pipeline that could make an indoor weather system, with energy to spare. Technically, we shouldn’t even be doing this, so everyone in attendance knows the rules of proper equestrian society don’t exactly apply. You two won’t be the only Colt Cuddlers there… and let’s leave it at that for now” Frostfire had the biggest, dopiest grin on his face as his little speech continued. Diamond really did get the impression the whole affair was going to be clandestine. Ponies from an unknown network getting together to behave badly, and make an awesome time of doing it.

“Yeah, because your dopey flank is gonna be there too, so that’s at least three” Party shot right back at Frostfire with a sarcastic smirk before turning back to Diamond. “Otherwise, it’s just a genuine underground party, the kind you don’t get to go to unless you know somepony who knows somepony, and as a pony who’s gone to a lot of parties, they’re the best kind”

“So wait… the ponies at this party are going to be okay with ponies who aren’t exactly normal?” The stallion was excited to hear of at least one place he wouldn’t have to hide himself. Yet he still found himself pawing at the ground, unsure how to interpret his friends’ reactions. He knew he shouldn’t be nervous, that they wouldn’t put him in harm’s way, but he couldn’t stop his nerves getting to him.

“D, to spare you the usual analogy about washing machines that gets thrown around the party scene, nopony there is normal. You’ll meet everypony from the eccentric to the downright crazy, so as long as you can swing and let yourself go a little crazy, you’ll fit right in.” It sounded like wonderful chaos. Somewhere that all his little doubts about himself would be washed away in the roil of loud music and newly minted friends. Party’s pitch wooed him, but the calm, confident, even excited expression sold it.

“So when’s the party? If it’s in a building like that, it doesn’t have to wait until night, does it?” It felt like such a dumb question, but Diamond wasn’t going to pretend to know anything more than he did. Frost looked a bit incredulous, but the blue unicorn was definitely in the mood to humor any question.

“There’s no official start time set. It’s just sort of when everypony shows up. That’s probably going to be around 8 if I had to guess, but that’s only if you want to see every second. I planned on showing up past that so we could go on our date proper. I’d still love to hear what you have to say about the city”

Oh right, Diamond thought, the date. He’d been so nervous over the course of the day wondering about the possibilities of it happening that worrying about the course of events wasn’t even on his mind… up until Party had actually shown up. Even up to this point in the conversation, the constant stream of revelations had nearly cowed him towards accepting the date was merely happening, as if it was a force of nature.

Once the athlete had a chance to breathe though, paranoia seized its chance to take back ground in his thoughts. He’d be awkward. He’d seem like he wouldn’t want to be there. He’d manage to say something especially dumb. Maybe worse, he’d slip up and say something that made it obvious they were on a date.

But the moment that trepidation started to show through, Diamond felt a hoof on his shoulder. He looked to it’s source, a somewhat concerned Party Favor with a reassuring smile on his muzzle. The unicorn rubbed his shoulder a few times before putting his front hoof back down, taking a step closer.

“I’m sure everything’s going to be just fine. You’ve either looked worried or scared this whole conversation, and I figured you deserved something to calm your nerves” Party leaned in gracefully and kissed the earth pony on the cheek. While this did seem to remove some of the tension from Double Diamond’s frame, he seemed just as mentally frazzled as a moment before.

“Well that’s great and all, but you two should be saving that kinda stuff for a romantic dockside lookout!” Frostfire interjected with all the grace of a daschund smacking face first into a plate glass window. “You’re off for the rest of the day D, Paid too! What the buck are you still doing in here? Go! Enjoy the sights! Bond!”

Diamond may have joked that Frost was trying to shove them out the door if it weren’t for the fact that he was quite literally pushing him towards it already. Party kept pace with the two stallions, watching them with an amused expression. By the time they’d gotten there Diamond had begun to trot of his own accord, looking back at his boss with all the thankfulness a simple smile could muster while he gathered the words to express it properly.

“You two dorks have fun now, I’ll see you at the party… and If I see you two together on the dance floor, you’ll have the day after tomorrow off with pay too, so don’t rush out of bed,” one more suggestive eye waggle, and the door was slammed in their face. Which, granted, wasn’t nearly as effective with a glass door, but the message was clear.

Diamond turned to Party, his hoof scraping on the ground again. Now that they were alone again, none of the words he wanted to say would come out. The pit in the bottom of his stomach felt heavier than the rest of his body. He had to say something, so why couldn’t he? He wanted to take the lead, show his friend the sights. Instead, he was starting to feel more like a pull toy. For all the worth he felt at the moment, the unicorn might as well just put a leash and collar on him and walk him like a dog… and he didn’t want to think about why that sounded like such a good idea.

Yet still, the unicorn seemed like an absolute bastion of support. He simply waited wordlessly, keeping the same patient smile throughout. The moment Diamond found the tongue to speak however, it seemed like his stomach was irate that it wasn’t invited to the floor beforehand.

“We should probably go get something to eat… I was about to go on my lunch break before you got here.” Diamond’s smile was thin and sheepish, but Party was just happy to see one grace the earth pony’s face. He didn’t need to know that he’d spent the lunch he’d taken trying to pace a hole in the breakroom floor.

“Sure! Were you planning on going anywhere? If you didn’t have plans, I passed this really tasty smelling food cart on the way over here, I think they were selling noodles of some kind? It’s got a red tiled roof and cloth over the serving area if you’ve seen it before…” Diamond had vague memories of a pink earth pony with a mane like cotton candy after he got rescued from the village, but he couldn’t immediately recall just why they were coming back.

“Oh yeah, that’s Akito’s, I’ve gone there a few times, and he’s never disappointed before,” Diamond nodded, trotting in the general direction where the cart was usually set up. “I was trying to think of something a bit more special for today, but I guess if you’ve never had full-fledged Neighponiese ramen, it’d be a good place to start out”

Party eagerly followed along, moving up to a brisk trot once he was sure the earth pony knew where they were going. It wasn’t long before a shift in the wind brought the rich scent of strong stock and light smoke. The unicorn gave his friend a soft poke to the barrel, almost breaking into a full gallop.

“Dude, D, that smells ten times better than when I passed it before! What did he put in the pot while we were in the shop?” Diamond could only chuckle in response to his friend’s sudden eagerness.

“We talked about it once, actually. Akito says the broth for the real thing takes forever and a half to get going. He has to start the next day’s batch before the dinner rush is even fully over. It kicks into gear just before it’s ready.” Through the bustle of the city streets the tiled roof of the stand slowly rose into view. The athlete was overjoyed only seeing only two backs in the cart. It only had four seats, and Party Favor wouldn’t be getting the full Akito’s experience if he didn’t get the chance to see the chef himself at work.

The stallion brushed aside the curtains covering the main dining “room”, helping his friend up onto the seat next to him. In such a contained space, the smell of boiling ramen and other ingredients was absolutely intoxicating, rich aromas mingling together to give the air a savory perfume that wafted across the wooden counter.

Moments later, a steel grey pony stepped out from the back, a huge bowl of ramen balanced on one hoof, and a cocky grin on his face. When he noticed Diamond, he tossed the bowl up to give him a little wave. Without even a glance back, the stallion’s tail whipped at the bowl, bouncing it onto the table in front of the customer it was intended for. The chef strutted forwards, leaning up against the counter in front of the two ponies.

“Well well, if it isn’t Diamond! And I couldn’t say I’d be able to predict seeing you in here with anyone but Frostfire. So, may I ask your name stranger? Mine’s Akito, same as the stand you’re sitting in. I’d tell you how long I’ve been serving San Franciscolt, but at the same time, I’d rather you taste it for yourself,” the pony spoke with rather clear Neighponese accent, though it had been tempered by his time in the city.

Party seemed more than a bit surprised by the display, leaning over the table and cordially offering a hoof to shake. Akito eagerly accepted, carefully studying everything he could see about the unicorn in front of him. Only after they broke away was the chef’s cutie mark visible, a steaming porcelain bowl with two chopsticks resting on top.

“My name’s Party Favor, I’m a friend of D’s from back in Canterlot. I figured he’d be able to show me all the best places around the city to go, and I can already smell that we’re off to a good start,” the stallion responded. His expression changed to surprise however, when the chef withdrew the two menus that were laying in front of them, starting to head back into the kitchen. He didn’t know what to add, glancing over to the athlete next to him for some sort of explanation.

“Oh, Akito gives every new guest their first bowl free, I guess the exchange is that they would trust him enough to put his best offering forward. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get somebody’s tastes wrong before,” Diamond offered, his tail swishing gently behind him on the stool.

The two made idle chatter for a few moments before a pair of bowls came flying out of the kitchen, landing perfectly in front of the two stallions. Both were steaming hot, and brimming over with various toppings. Diamond’s was familiar to him, but he’d never seen Party’s before. It was laden over with mushrooms, fat strips of hay bacon, and to top it all off, a soft boiled egg, perched on the side. He felt hungry, but Party looked utterly transfixed.

“I think he put on more toppings than soup. If I couldn’t smell it, I’d wonder if there’s even any under all the food.” The unicorn picked up a pair of chopsticks with his magic, admiring just how deep the bowl went. Party glanced over to the pony that accompanied him, glad to see what seemed to be a pleased expression on Diamond’s face.

“I take it Akito’s still got a perfect record?” Diamond mused, letting a string of noodles cool in the air.

“Definitely, I have a feeling I’m going to want to stop here every day I’m here.” Party could only force out those few words before absolutely diving in, shoveling down a slew of different toppings before getting down to the noodles. The athlete thought he was hungry, but Party was going at his soup like he hadn’t eaten since they’d last spoke.

Only a few minutes later and both bowls were totally empty, Diamond placing his own down as he finished slurping down the remaining broth. It was a bit strange eating with Party because it still seemed so familiar. Not like eating the tasteless gruel and muffins they served in the village, but rather those sweet few days in Canterlot. Eating pizza and takeout around a big table with everypony, all happy to be themselves again. Even if the same words weren’t being said and the laughter wasn’t in the air, Diamond felt the same warmth just being able to sit alongside Party and simply be.

“I thought I’d be able to go for another bowl halfway through, but now I feel like I could run for the rest of the day without needing to eat.” Party sighed in satisfaction, twirling his chopsticks in the air. Diamond chuckled, taking out the small hoofful of bits he needed to pay for his meal.

“We’re not so different after all it seems. I bought a second bowl before I finished my first time, and Akito brought it out in a takeout container. Good thing I didn’t mind eating Akito’s two days in a row. It’s not as good reheated, but that doesn’t stop it from being amazing,” the athlete offered, leaning against the counter and kicking his back hooves. All that was left to do was wait for Akito to collect. Then he could worry about finding something interesting for the two of them to do.

It was hard for Double Diamond to distance himself from any sort of concern. Party was never anything but genuine, but it almost felt too easy to get back into his good graces. That little barb of nagging doubt only clouded his judgement. Every single option he’d come up with ultimately just boiled down to just how his friend might be disappointed. He didn’t feel he had any good options, and with Akito leaving with the bits, he had to find a way to stall for time.

“Hey, um… why don’t we go walk along the bay some? The view is really nice, and it doesn’t get as crowded as the rest of the city can be”

“That sounds great!” Party chirped, practically jumping to his hooves from the stool. “I’ve always wanted to go along one of those romantic piers everyone says San Franciscolt has, the view of the bay must be great by the time you get to the end.”

Diamond’s stomach dropped into his hooves upon the mention of the word romance. He didn’t want it to be too obvious that they were two stallions on a date, and walking down a pier giving one another goo-goo eyes was about as obvious as they could get. He was just thinking of a bit of casual sightseeing to kill time. Even still, the fact that he wanted to reject the idea simply because Party wanted to do what they’d set out for was making him feel like a complete ass. His friend deserved better.

“Alright then, let’s get going. Moonlight Pier is going to be the best option if you want a Bay view. Plus, if we just wanna have fun, there’s a pretty decently sized midway on the boardwalk leading out there.” Diamond started off alongside his date, helping direct the unicorn towards where they wanted to go.

The longer they trotted along, the more the spires of San Fransiscolt proper seemed like a distant painting, the kind of simple outline that got printed on the bottom of a tourist brochure. The piers barely felt like they were part of the city, the noise of their surroundings reduced to a point where it was possible for Diamond to hear his own thoughts again. Not that he entirely welcomed the change, but that was simply something he had to deal with. But it could have been worse.

The idle chatter with Party was doing a decently good job at keeping Diamond’s habitually wandering mind in check. It felt like such a trite observation that a pony who’s special talent was ostensibly being a master of ceremonies could keep conversation flowing without issue, but it made the walk down the pier seem so much more vivid than he remembered it being on his own.

In what felt like no time, the pair arrived at the end of the pier, able to fully admire the panoramic view San Franciscolt had become famous for. The skyline of Oakwood lay shimmering in the distance, framed by the horizon on one side, and the Golden Bridle Bridge on the other. And smack dab in the center was, in Diamond’s opinion, the biggest eyesore in a city of avant garde statuary and neon graffiti, Alcoltraz. At least Party didn’t seem to mind, he was practically grinning from ear to ear.

The conversation hit a natural lull as the two stood together and admired the sights. While there had been a small hoofful of ponies lingering around when they got there, it was only a few minutes before the two were totally alone. Maybe, the athlete thought, if he was feeling particularly brave, he could try moving to hold hooves with his friend as they took in the sights.

“So… you were worried that I wouldn’t show up today? Could I ask why?” The questions caught Double Diamond completely off guard, tearing his eyes off the view and back onto Party, who was looking right back at him with a rather concerned expression.

“I’m sorry dude, I wasn’t thinking when I said that. I mean… yeah, I was sorta concerned that you wouldn’t be here today, but really, that doesn’t matter. You showed up! Buck me, you showed up early, that’s worth quite a lot in my book,” Diamond offered.

“But… why were you worried? I didn’t want to stress you out with the delay, but I didn’t want you to make a rushed decision… if you didn’t want to, I wanted to give you the time to work up the nerve to say no.” Party sighed, one hoof moving to rest on the thick hempen ropes that spanned the pier.

“Tartarus, why do you even think I’d want to say no? Talking with you was about all I wanted to do since I got here, most of the time I was wondering where you were.” As the stallion continued, a rather sudden look of understanding, followed by concern crossed the unicorn’s face. Diamond paused, moving his hoof next to Party’s. “I’ve been wanting to just hang out with somepony for who knows how long. I thought you’d jump at the chance to set plans, but… you just kinda left and I didn’t know why”

There was so much that Party Favor wanted to explain right then and there. To come clean and give a day by day account of his life up to that point. His eyes wandered to the prison, to the unseen depths of the bay, and right back to Diamond, to the kind of gaze that would accept any answer, as long as it told him why… something Party wasn’t allowed to say just yet.

“I wanted to, I really did, but I had some stuff to do last night, and I didn’t know for sure when I’d be able to set some time aside for you D. If I had to just go run off right now, how would that make you feel? That’s what I wanted to keep from happening” Party faltered, trying to offer every part of the truth he could.

“I don’t care how much more time we had together, I just wanted more time with you! I couldn’t care less if it was an hour or a second, I just wanted to make the most of what I could get before you walked out of my life again!” Diamond whimpered, his hoof shivering on the rope. “The way you talked about San Franciscolt, it sounded like you’d be on the first airship after me, but that didn’t happen… I wanted to think every day was just going to be the day you showed up at my door. That you’d help show me all that wonderful stuff that you talked about back in Canterlot. I thought you just expected me to find myself without you, but I just ended up chasing my tail.”

Before the earth pony could let out another word, or inch closer to the verge of tears, he found a pair of cobalt hooves tossed around his shoulders. It may have been months late, but that simple embrace was all Diamond wanted. He could feel his friend’s coat wicking up the tears forming at the edges of his eyes, but a few tiny sniffles were all that needed to be let out. Because after all those months of absence, Party was there for him again.

“I’m not walking out of your life any time soon. I helped put tonight together for us, and I’ll start as many parties as it takes to make sure you never feel like that again. I hope this isn’t too soon, but buck it. It needs to be said. I love you, D. I’m done abandoning my favorite snow angel.”

Sympathy. Fear. Disgust. Flattery. Offense. Understanding. Hatred. Those three words sent Double Diamond’s mind into a hurricane of emotion. He was at war with himself. There was the part of himself that he wanted to nurture, and it stared down the part of himself that refused to die after so long. A part of him that seemed to want to take him with it. He was a colt cuddler… he was spitting on Celestia’s hooves... In that state of fugue, Diamond lifted his head to look his friend in the eye.

The unicorn was close to tears himself, but the hoof in the dyke seemed to be the hair of a light hearted grin. Not a single untrue word was spoken. He had a true friend that he never really lost. He was still Party’s favorite snow angel. He was loved. Whether or not he could stand to love himself. His emotions finally settled. He knew how he was feeling.

Smitten.